Get A Room
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: During one Keith's and Lance's fights, an annoyed Pidge tells them to get a room. They do, but not like everyone thinks. Ace!Keith


The whole mess started because Pidge really just couldn't keep her mouth shut. In her defense, it was after a long mission and she had already been up all night due to some project she'd been working on.

Well, in reality, it started because everyone was on edge after Shiro's disappearance. It had been a long week and the hole where he'd been had been left gaping and raw to everyone. Allura compensated as best she could by being even more upbeat and hopeful, even if everyone could tell she was about to crack. They all did their best to support her, but they could only do so much.

Coran also overcompensated in his exuberance that really just came off as more annoying than usual. Hunk had been quieter than normal; Pidge, more withdrawn than normal; and Lance, lazier than normal. Keith turned to his usual form of coping and hardly ever stepped out of the training room. On the few occasions he did, he tended to snap at whoever spoke to him and the rest of the castle quickly learned to just stay out of his way.

Except Lance, of course.

The one time Allura managed to talk Keith into joining the group, this became painfully obvious. At first he just sat in one corner of the room and looked out the window to the stars. Some time after that, Lance had started a sort of tag with Hunk, mainly because he had one of the yellow paladin's main cooking utensils (some sort of rod with a dull, two-pronged fork on the end) and the larger boy was chasing him, yelling for him to give it back.

Hunk managed to lunge forward and Lance, seeing he was about to be caught, yelled out to the closest member of the group as he tossed the coveted tool in their direction. "Keith!"

Keith had always had some of the best reflexes among the team, but he'd obviously been lost in his own thoughts as he didn't move nearly quickly enough to catch it. Everyone seemed to realize this at once as a sort of horrified, anticipatory silence fell over the room. Keith turned to look just in time to have the thing smash into his face.

"OW!" he yelped and then spat a few harsh words as his hand rubbed at his nose. Then he turned his glare on Lance.

"What the—" he started, but Allura cut in.

"Keith, are you alright?" she asked worriedly as she hurried over to them.

Naturally, Lance had to choose that moment to break down laughing.

"Why you..." Keith growled, face flushed as he grabbed the rod-like utensil and stalked over to Lance, right past Allura, who knew better than to try and stop him physically.

"Keith..." she implored.

He paused and looked back at her and his face softened just a bit. She really didn't want the fighting, he could tell, and she had gone out of her way to ask him to come and join them (against his better judgment). He relaxed ever so slightly, but then Lance had to actually point at his fellow pilot.

"Your face!" He hadn't stopped laughing either.

"Dude," Hunk started worriedly. Keith felt the iciness that tended to freeze his rage into something much harsher build inside him as his hand clenched around the utensil.

He wasn't sure whether he would just smash the thing into the other paladin's face in revenge or hand him the stupid thing and just walk out.

Then, from the corner of the room, Pidge stood up, looking for the world like she was angrier than Keith felt. "Will you two get a room already and stop bugging us?!"

This time utter silence slammed over the room as if it had a physical presence and everyone stared at her. She blinked back at them.

"What?" she asked.

And then it clicked in Keith's mind. They thought that he... _liked_ Lance? Really? Why would they think that? He didn't know whether to feel horrified or disgusted or horrified at his disgust because why should that disgust him? Lance may be an arrogant jerk lacking in even the basics of common sense, but he was still a paladin.

Then something occurred to him...maybe it was…

He shook the thought from his head, feeling suddenly vulnerable and glanced around the room to see everyone looking at him or Lance, and Lance was staring at him with round eyes and a pale face.

"Wait...you..." Lance started.

Right about then, Keith decided it was a good time to just _get out_ of the situation. He really didn't want to deal with...whatever was going on (and why couldn't he seem to _get_ it?).

So, he handed the utensil to Hunk and headed down to the training room. For the third time that day. He didn't have time to try to figure out what made them think something like that. He had to work on becoming stronger to fill Shiro's shoes and (hopefully) find Shiro and bring him back.

He missed his older brother, and everyone else did too. So he'd do his best to fill the hole Shiro had left in their lives and do whatever he possibly could to get him back.

xXx

 _Later that night..._

Lance would have to admit that he rarely felt _this_ bad about anything, _especially_ Keith. Mr. I-won't-get-a-haircut-and-am-perpetually-stuck-in-the-80's-because-I-just-don't-have-time-to-even-do-anything-with-said-hair. Keith was his _rival_ and honestly, Lance figured the guy really needed to get that stick out of his...well, _those_ sticks out of everywhere. The guy was just too stiff and stuck up. That was part of the reason Lance always ribbed him.

But _attraction_? He supposed it made sense now...and that just made him feel all the worse for it. He should have _seen_ it, but he'd been so obsessed with just getting a rise out of his _rival_...

Lance would never admit it aloud, but he knew he was an idiot. His mom had said so often enough. He'd just never really _felt_ like he was before...not like this. And now he had to make up for it.

He had to let Kieth down nice and easy...or at least try and mend whatever kind of friendship they still had. Could they still have one? Man, this was going to be _awkward_.

Still had to be done. He looked at the door in front of him and took a deep breath and raised his hand for what felt like the billionth time.

Lance had never much cared for awkward.

He heard his mom's impatient voice in the back of his head, telling him to just get it over with, and rapped his knuckles on the door, hard. No one answered for several seconds. Was he even here? Maybe he'd stayed in the training room all day...again? Part of Lance couldn't help but feel relieved, but the other part of him just felt worse. He had to fix this...because how could they all work together if he didn't? What would that mean for the rest of the universe? What would that mean for the paladins? For Allura and Coran? No, they all had to be able to work together at least, or else the galra would make things worse.

Just as Lance was about to turn and head back to his own room, the door inched open and the short-haired boy glanced over to see Keith peering out of a dark room.

For several seconds, they just stared at each other, neither sure of what to do. Then Keith's eyes narrowed.

"What do _you_ want?"

Lance sighed. He supposed he deserved that. Did Keith have it for him _that_ badly? Not that he blamed the other kid. Lance was one heck of a catch. Still...

"I...wantedtoapologize," he said quickly. Yup, awkward. He'd _so_ called it.

Keith's narrowed eyes went from defensive to confused. "Huh?"

Lance frowned. "You're really gonna make me say it again, huh? Fine. I wanted to apologize." Ugh, that hurt to say, worse than he thought it would.

The other boy's hand went up to rub at the very red mark still on his nose. Wait, did he think Lance was apologizing for that?

"No, no, not that," he said hurriedly, then noted the defensive look had returned. "I mean, yes, for that too, I guess, because I didn't _want_ to hit you, but...well, what I'm trying to say is that while you have excellent taste, I don't really swing that way."

The expression on the half-galra's face suddenly became unreadable...not a good thing in Lance's opinion.

"Go away," Keith said and went to shut the door.

"No, wait!" This was _so_ not working out how Lance had pictured it. He'd wanted to come here and make things _better_ , not _worse._ To his surprise, Keith paused.

"What?"

Well, if the more subtle didn't work, then it was time to be blunt. "Look, you don't have to like it, and I'm really sorry I didn't see it sooner—"

Keith cut him off. "Wait, saw what sooner?"

Lance blinked. What did Keith _think_ they were talking about? "Your attraction to me."

The expression that came next was nothing short of incredulous, mixed with a healthy dose of confusion and frustration. "I don't get it," he finally said.

This was really getting confusing. Wasn't that supposed to be Lance's line?

"Don't get what?"

"What makes you—or anyone—think that I'm attracted to you?" Keith asked, exasperated.

Lance had to stop for what felt like several minutes. Wait...what?

"You're...not?" Or was he asking what gave it away? "I mean, I guess it's because you and I fight all the time."

Well, at least he opened the door a bit more. "But that makes no sense. I fight the galra too. Does everyone think I'm attracted to them?" He paused for a moment and closed his eyes, bringing a hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose. "No, don't answer that."

Lance frowned. He thought Keith had gotten over the whole 'half-galra' thing, but apparently not. Not that he blamed the guy. Lance didn't think it was something he'd get over quickly either.

"So you're...not in love with me."

Keith shot him another glare. "No."

And here Lance had thought that he'd been attractive enough for the ladies _and_ the men. What a letdown. Then again, maybe it was just Keith. No harm in asking.

"Then who _are_ you attracted to?"

Keith seemed to slump just a little with that.

"Oh, come on, you can tell me," Lance felt a grin spread across his face. Then it vanished into a frown. "It better not be Allura. I mean, I know we're rivals, but—"

"No," Keith said sternly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Pidge? I mean, I guess you're both kind of anti-social—"

"No," the other boy growled.

Lance thought about it for a moment, and then something occurred to him. "Wait is...is it Shiro?" he asked softly. That would explain a lot actually.

The resulting reaction of complete horror could be a mask, but Lance didn't think so. "What? No! Ew!"

"Hey, what do you have against Shiro?"

At that, Keith rolled his eyes and turned back into his room. Oh, no, Lance was _not_ going to just leave it at that! He lunged forward before Keith could close it. Angrily, the half-galra turned around and tried to push him out again.

"Oh, come on! It's not Hunk, although you guys have been going on a lot of missions lately."

"No!"

"Coran?"

"Get out!"

"Red?"

At least that made Keith pause and think about it, which gave Lance the opening he needed to get into the room. Ha! Now Keith would _have_ to tell him. The red paladin shot a glare at the teen invading his space.

"It is Red!" Lance crowed triumphantly.

The expression of pain that shot across the other's face as he looked away made Lance pause and the terrible feeling he'd been hoping to alleviate earlier came back in full force.

"No."

"It's not?"

Keith shook his head. "Not like that. Red...she's my lion and I love her...but not like that."

"Someone on Earth then?" Lance asked, mainly because he didn't know what else to ask.

"There's no one on Earth."

"So it is a galra, then?"

The red paladin turned on the blue with a truly scary glare. Lance almost swore he could see the eyes go yellow, but the effect was gone a moment later. He still took a step back.

"No! I don't like anyone!"

Lance wanted to slump. All that for nothing? "No one?"

Keith turned away, as if embarrassed. "No one."

"Guess you just haven't met them yet, then."

"No," Keith muttered as he walked back to his bed and sat on it. He still didn't look at Lance.

"Aw, come on, man, I'm sure you'll..." the blue paladin started, but then he stopped. The room was still dark, but light came in through the door and he could see how defensive Keith looked. Just like...

Oh.

 _Oh._

"Wait...you're ace!"

That at least got a response as Keith looked up at Lance. "I'm what?"

"Asexual," Lance clarified.

The poor kid flinched as if Lance had struck him and turned away to face the wall behind his bed. He didn't answer. That was answer enough.

"Well why didn't you say so before?"

"Go away," Keith muttered again.

"You know, my uncle Tony's ace. That's how I knew about it. He's a great guy, y' know. Says he loves everyone, but doesn't do the 'lust' thing. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Lance sat on a bench built into the wall by Keith's bed and looked up at the ceiling, not really seeing it as he remembered his family.

"Why not?" Keith asked quietly. Lance wasn't quite sure he'd really heard him but decided to answer anyway.

"Because it's part of you," the shorter-haired boy responded with a shrug. It was supposed to help his fellow paladin feel better, which was why he found himself confused that Keith curled in on himself even more.

"It's just one more thing that's screwed up about me."

Lance blinked at that. Why would Keith of all people...

Oh.

"No," he said as soon as the thought processed, his hands balling into fists. "No, no and...just...NO! I...really, dude? Is this about the galra thing again? You think you're like this because your mom was an alien? Newsflash, you're not! Besides, no one _cares_ about that!"

"Everyone cares about it!" Keith said, flipping over and practically growling it out. "Allura did!"

"She got over it," Lance returned, folding his arms.

"Everyone else did, too. Even Hunk didn't trust me!"

"So it took them time to stop being idiots. So what?"

"I'm not normal!" Keith yelled, standing up and getting right in Lance's face like he always did. Like it would get his point across.

For once, Lance didn't rise to the bait. He just stood there and shook his head. "Who said you had to be?"

Keith blinked and backed off, standing straight and staring at Lance as if he'd grown two heads. "Huh?"

"So you're half-galra? Actually, in my book, that's a plus. You can open galra doors and interact with their technology, totally spy on them. How is that a bad thing? So you're ace. So what? It just means more of the ladies for me. Not that you were ever competition, mind you."

So he couldn't help adding that last bit. He didn't much care for 'too serious for too long'. Keith for his part continued to stare at him for several seconds. Then, to Lance's relief, he snickered.

It was blue paladin's turn to get into Keith's face. "Dude, are you laughing at me?"

And for the first time since Arus, Keith lost control and laughed outright. Lance counted that as a success. He couldn't help the grin that came over his own face.

"Hug, go figure," someone from the door said. "They got a room."

Keith stopped laughing as they both turned to see Pidge at the door, filming them. Lance wanted to groan. Oh, great. Now _everyone_ in the castle would think they were an item.

"They did?" Coran asked sticking his head into the room.

"Lance?"

"Yeah?" he glanced over at the red paladin and blinked. If he'd said he couldn't see the galra in Keith before, he took it back. The smile on the other's face was nothing short of animalistic and promised retribution.

"Temporary truce."

Lance frowned. "What for?"

"Well, I guess it won't be too hard to take them out on my own."

"Say what?" Coran huffed.

Lance glanced between them and Keith for a second before he felt a similar smile form on his own face. "Go ahead. I'm not going to hit a _girl_."

"You can't _what_?" Pidge screeched, practically going as red as Keith's lion.

The red paladin turned to face his temporary partner. "That was mean, even for you. Are we sure I'm the only half-galra here?"

It hurt him to say it, Lance could tell, but he was trying. He'd take that as success number two of the evening. And he couldn't very well let that go, now could he?

"If we win I'll give you a surprise later," Lance said as suggestively as he could, wiggling his eyebrows and everything.

Keith cocked his head at him. "Like what? You'll let me practice with your rifle or something?"

Lance urked and went bright red. "Dude! I was just...I thought you didn't think like that!"

"Like what?" Keith asked, blinking owlishly in confusion.

Then they had to duck and dodge because Coran and Pidge had decided to launch an offensive.

On the astral plane, Shiro face-palmed.

xXx

AN: Firstly, I'd like to thank Carradee for helping me out with this. Seriously, thanks hon!

Secondly, I have to say that I've never seen Keith's and Lance's arguing and competition as attraction. Everyone seems to think Keith is homosexual, but honestly he really just seems ace to me. Besides, it isn't something we see in media today and the Avatar team is known for challenging the norm. I'd like to see something like this from the Voltron team too.


End file.
